Cotton-picking machine.



J. B. NEIL.

COTTON PIOKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED FBB.B.1912.

1,121,592, Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

Inventor Attorneys Witnesses J. B. NEIL.

COTTON PICKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. a. 1912 1,121,592, I Patented De0.15,1914.

4 SHEETS SHEET 2.

Witnesses Inventor J'. B. NEIL.

COTTON PICKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 22. 1912.

Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

4 SHEETS -SHBET 3 Z A if enter Attorneys J. B. NEIL.

COTTON PICKING MACHINE! A P P L I G A T I 0 N F I L E D 1 1 33.8.1912.1,121,592, Patented De0.15,1914.

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WWWWWW (/WWWWW r/WWWWW WWWWWW l/WWWWW/ (/WWWWW fl VWWWWW WWWWW I.picking cotton JOSEPH B.-NEIL, OF FILI BERT,

sou'rn CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR 'ro scum oaaoninn COTTON PI'cKEB. COMPANY, OFYoRKvILnn, SOUTH CAROLINA.

COTTON-PIGKING MACHINE.

Spemncation of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 15, 43;.

Application filed February 8, 1912. SeriaI No. 676,426.

"South Carolina, have invented a new and useful Cotton-Picking Machine,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for and is more particularly animprovement upon the structure disclosed in Patent No. 856,178, issuedto me on June provide a machine One of the objects of the invention isto of this type adapted to be drawn along a row of cotton plants and tocomb the plants, said machine including revoluble members designed toengage the cotton fibers and completely remove them from the bolls, thepicking so arranged relative to each other as to both pick the cottonand convey it to the upper portion of the machine whereby the cotton isdumped on to a conveyer adapted to conduct it to suitable baggingmechanism.

A further object is to provide a machine of this character which willnot choke and which is designed to separate the cotton fiber from theleaves and other undesirable materials while the fiber is being pickedfrom the plant and while it isbeing conveyed upwardly to the doflingelements.

A further object is to provide a picking machine which will actefliciently upon plants of all sizes, means being provided whereby thepicking elements will yield when subjected to certain resistances, theplants being thus protected from injury such as heretofore has resultedfrom crushing.

A further object is to provide picking mechanism the plant engagingelements of which are so mounted as to have the maximum up and downmovement without coming into contact with each other.

A further object is to provide improved means for holding back theplants while the machine is combing through them so that the limbs ofthe plants Will not be broken or torn off during the picking operation.

Another object is to provide simple means for holding the machine inproper position relative to the row while it is being drawn along saidrow.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription elements being proceeds, the invention resides in thecombination and arrangement of parts and in the details of constructionhereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes inthe precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be madewithin the scope of what'is claimed, Without departing from the spiritof the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 isa front elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectionthrough a portion of the frame of the machine. Fig. 4 is an enlargedvertical transverse section through one of the picking frames. Fig; 5 isan elevation of a portion of the working face of one of the frames. ofthe frames and showing the means employed for transmitting motion to thevarious picking rolls and holding rolls. Fig. 7 is a reduced section online AB Fig. 4;, all of the rollers of the picking frames, together withtheir drive belts and pulleys being removed, and only the dofling brushbeing shown. Fig. 8 is an enlarged transverse section through one of thepicking rollers. Fig. 9 is a detail view of a portion of the pickingsurface of the roller. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of one of theconvevers and elevators. F g. 11 is a perspective view of a portion ofone of the guards Fig. 6 is a front elevation of one 1 f r the frontends of the picking frames.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged view partly in section and partly in elevation ofthe bagging mechanism.

Referring to the figures bv characte s of reference 1 des gnates anarched frame having sleeves 2 ad ustablv mounted on the s de portionsthereof and held against mo ement relative to said portions bv anv sutable means. such as set screws 3 o the like.

Spindles 4 extend late allv from these slee es and are supported bvwheels one ing frame 10 preferably made of angular .nietal, such as aT-iron, each frame consistfront strip 16 connecting said forwardlyextending portion 15 to the front end of the bottom strip 11. The upperportion of the front strip 16 and the portions 14 and 15 of the frame.constitute an upper frame extension indicated generally at 17. Thus itwill be seen, that two swinging frames are provided, said frames beingmounted. to swing about parallel axes.

Side strips 18 are fixedly connected to and extend rearwardly from theupper portion of the arched frame 1 and are held rigid relative to thesaidgarched frame by means of inclined braces 19. Each of these sidestrips has a downwardly extending L- shaped extension 20 also providedwith a brace 21. Extensions 20 serve to support a platform 22ion which abag, such as indicated at C, and which will be referred to hereinafter,may be placed.

A rod 23 is pivotally connected to each of the portions 13 of theswinging frames 10 and extends inwardly therefrom. said rod slidablyengaging a guide car 24 depending from a cross member 25 mounted on theside rear ends of the frames 10 normally to swing toward each other.

A motor 28 is mounted'on the cross member 25 and is adapted to drive achain 29 which, in turn, drives the sprocket 6 hereinbefore referred to.A standard'30 is supported above and moves with the side strips 18 andhas a shaft 31 journaledtherein and extending parallel with the sides ofthe machine. This shaft has a; pulley 32 receiving motion from the motor28 through a belt 33. The shaft 31 has .a pulley 34 secured thereto inthe plane of the axes of rotation of the frames 10 and this pulley issufliciently broad to drive two oppositely extending belts 35 and 36. Ashaft. 37 is j ournaled in each extension frame 17 close to the topthereof. and is provided, within said extension frame, with a sprocket38. One end of the shaft 37 projects rearwardly from the extension frameand has a pulley 39 secured thereto.

while the other pulley 39 is adapted to be driven by the belt 36. Thusit will be seen that the two shafts 37 will be simultaneously rotated inopposite directions.v It is to be understood that pulleys 39 are locatedin vertical alinement with the pivot devices 8 and 9. Obviously,therefore. the frames 10 can be swung about their vertical axes withoutinterfering with the transmission of motion from the shaft 31 to thepulleys 39 and shafts 37.

Supported by each of the swinging frames 10 is a series of parallelhorizontal tubular pivot members 40 arranged one above the other therear ends of these pivot members being supported by the rear up-.standing portions 12 of the frames 10 while the front end of each pivotmember 40 is supported by a short shaft 41 journaled at one end Withinthe front strip 16 andat its other end within an upstanding frame piece42 mounted within the frame 10 and parallel with the front strip 16. Asprocket 43 is secured to each shaft 41 and the sprockets 43 in eachframe 10 receive motion through a single chain 44, from the sprocket 38,idler sprockets 45 being interposed between the sprockets 43 so as tohold the chain 44 positively in engagement with the teeth of thesprocket 43. A second sprocket 46 is secured to and rotates with eachshaft 41.

Upwardly extending arms 47 are fixedly mounted on each tubular pivotmember 40' adjacent the ends thereof and are secured to the front andrear heads 48 and 49 respec- .tively of apicki-ng frame. These headsextend downwardly and inwardly at acute angles to the arms 47 and arefixed relative to said arms: A shaft 50 is journaled in the upper endsof the heads 48 and 49 and has a sprocket 51 which receives motion,through a chain 52, from the sprocket 46 on shaft 41 thereunder. Thisshaft 50 carries a dofling brush 53 and also carries, adjacent its frontend, two grooved pulleys 54 and 55 respectively. Shafts 56 are journaledin the heads 48 and 49 and are parallel with shaft 50, the shafts 56being arranged in staggered relation and each of them carrying a pickingcylinder 57. Each of these cylinders is hol-' low and has alongitudinally corrugated working face or periphery, as will be apparcutby referring to Fig. 8, and each corrugation has a longitudinallyextending series of substantially V-shapedopenings 58 extendingtransversely thereof, there being va spur or tooth 59 within eachopening, all of the openings and teeth being arranged similarly withinthe cylinder. Thus it will be seen that any. cotton fiber which may beforced within the concavities between the a corrugations, will projectinto the openings 7 One of these pulleys 39 is adapted I to be driven bythe belt 35, which is crossed,

58 and be engaged by the points of the teeth 59.

Rollers 60 are journaled between the heads 48 and 49 and are disposed instaggered relation, each of these rollers being being such as to feedtoward the rear end of the picking frame during the forward movement ofthe machine.

Each roller 60 has trunnions 62 extending from its ends, these trunnionsbearing. within heads 48 and 49. The trunnions 62 extending beyond thefront head 48x have grooved pulleys 63 secured thereto. The shafts 56project forward through the head 48 and together with shaft 50 havegrooved pulleys 64 fastened thereto. An endless belt 65 engages thepulleys 64, said belt passing upwardly in engagement with the pulleys 63of the rollers 60 located along the upper edges of the heads 48 and 49.Another endless belt 66 is mounted on one of the pulleys 64 and engagesthe pulleys 63 of the lower series of rollers 60. Idlers 67 may besuitably arranged so as to hold the belt taut and in proper engagementwith the grooved pulleys 63.

It will be noted by referring to Fig. 6 that the pulleys 64 are ofdifferent diam eters, the uppermost .pulley being smaller than thepulley next thereunder and this arrangement being followed throughoutthe series of pulleys 64. Obviously, therefore, the lower pickingcylinder or roll 57 will rotate at a slower speed than the cylinder nextabove it and the third cylinder from the bottom will rotate even faster.It is preferred to have the cylinders 57 so geared that each one willrotate about twice as fast as the one next under it. All of thecylinders rotate in the direction indicated by arrows in Fig. 4. ,Therolls 60 all rotate at the samespeed and the worms formed by the wires61 are designed to engage the plants acted on by the machine and to pushthe limbs rear'wardly thus to compensate for the drag in a forwarddirection which is set up by the machine while in engagement with theplants. Each of the pivot members 40 has an arm 68 connected by a spring69 to adjustable bars 69' carried by the frames 10. Thus it will be seenthat the spring pulls constantly on the arm 68 and thus, serves toyieldingly support the picking frame made up of the heads 48 and 49 andthe parts I connecting the same.

The front ends of the picking frames are preferably formed of sheet.metal bent so as to prevent vegetation from coming into contact with thebelts 65 and 66 and the pulleys driven thereby. All of these shields,with the exception of the lowermost ones. are similar in. contour. Thelower shields 71, however, are curved and extended forward so as to formlifting fingers whereby any fallen plants in the row being operated onwill be elevated into position to be combed by the picking rollers.

The outer side of each swinging frame 10 is provided with a housing 72and within the bottom portion of this housing adjacent the front andback ends of the frame 10 are rollers 7 3 and 74 respectively,additional rollers 75 and 76 being located within the housing slightlyabove and close to the roller 7 4. Another roller 77 is located in thehousing adjacent the top of the rear portion thereof. An endlessconveyer belt 78 is mounted on the roller 73 and the upper run thereofextends over the roller 76 and under roller 75 and thence upwardly overroller 77 and downwardly under roller 74. Another roller 7 9 is arrangedwithin the housing close to and above the rollers 75 and 76 and isengaged by the lower portion of an endless belt 80, the upper portion ofthis belt runs coiiperate to grip any cotton which may be suppliedbetween the belts and to convey the cotton upwardly. It is to beunderstood that any cotton doifed from the picking rollers in the mannerhereinafter set forth, will drop onto the upper run of the lower portionof belt 78 and will be conveyed under the lower end of belt 80 andagainst the upwardly moving run of the belt 78 which will, in turn,carry it into position between said'run and the belt 80. Thus the cottonwill be carried upwardly as hereinafter set forth and Will be dischargedover the upper roller 77. Spouts 82 are arranged to receive cottondischarged from the conveyer belts 80 and 78 and serve to direct thecotton into a hopper-83 which is supported above the platform 22. Thebottomof this hopper is formed of two opposed sections 84 and 85- havingside-wings which constantly lap. These sections are held normally closetogetherby means of one or more springs 86. A lever 87 is fulcrumedadjacent the hopper, preferably upon a bracket 88 extending from one ofthe side strips 18. and rods 89 extend from this lever at opposite sidesof its fulcrum and are connected to the respective hopper sections 84and 85. 'Thus it will be seen that when the lever is swung in onedirection, the two hopper sections Wlll be moved apart against thewherais, when the lever is released, springs 86 will return all of theparts to their normal positions.

Brackets 90 extend from the respective sections 84 and 85 close, to thelower ends thereof and are adapted to be engaged loosely by the hookedends 91 of arms 92, these arms being pivotally connected, as shown at93. The said arms are located in the mouth of a sack C and it will beunder- 'stood that, by opening the sack to a slight extent the hookedends 91 can be placed in engagement with the brackets 90. When lever 87is then shifted to open the hopper 83, the sections 81 and 85 will pressagainst the hooked ends of the arms 92 and com-' pletely open the sackso that the material within the hopper will be free to fall into thesack. As soon as the hopper is closed,'

the sack is partly closed and may then be easily removed from the hopperand a new sack placed in engagement therewith.

It'will. be understood from the description heretofore given that whenthe motor 28 is in operation, motion will be transmitted therefromthrough the various belts and shafts, to the chains A4 and these chainswill cause the shafts 4-1 to rotate in unison. Motion will betransmitted from each shaft 11 to the pulleys and belts carried by thepicking head associated with said shaft. As the corresponding.heads onthe opposed swinging frames 10 converge reaiwardly, as indicated in Fig.2, it will be seen that, when the machine is propelled along a row ofplants, the picking heads will pass under and over the branches of theplants and said tween the picking rollers.

plants will thus be thoroughly combed. During this combingoperation thepicking rollers 57 and the holding rollers 00 are ro'- tating. The teethor spurs 59 on the picking rollers will engage the cotton fiber and pullit out of the bolls. the rollers 60 located above the picking rollsserving to hold back the boll and preventing it from entering be- Thefiber engaged by the lowermost roller 57 on each picking head will bewrapped about said roller and conveyed up to a point where it will beengaged by the teeth or spurs on the next adjoining roller 57. As thislast mentioned roller is traveling at a greater speed than the rollerthereunder, it will be seen that ithas a greater capacity and istherefore capable not only of removing all of the cotton from the lowerroll but alsoof picking cotton from the bolls contacted by said secondroll. From said second roll the cotton is passed to the third roll whichlikewise has a greater capacity than the second roll and this operationis continued throughout the height of the picking frame, the cotton,upon its being engaged by the teeth or prongs of the upper roll 57,being dolfed by the brush 53 and thrown into the These rollers operateto engage the plants and to push. them rearwardly at the same speed asthe machine is traveling forward so that, as a result, the limbs of theplants will be combed away from the stems and the plants will be heldsubstantially in their normal positions while being acted upon and thereis thus no danger of'mutilating them to an undesirable extent. As thevarious picking frames are yieldingly supported by the springs (39, itwill be seen that they will swing away from a plant or obstructionoffering excessive resistance to their movement.

By shifting the bars 69 upwardly or downwardly the springs (59 can becaused to release or to pull downwardly on the arms 08,- therebyshifting the picking frames downwardly. or upwardly as desired about thepivot members 10 to change their angles relative to the horizontaland'to raise or'lower the picking rolls. This adjustment is desirableespecially when drawing the machine through the plants more than once.As the pivot members are located at some distance below the upper endsof the picking frames, it will be seen that the movement of opposedframes toward each other during this tilting of the frames is reduced tothe minimum.

Any suitable means may be provided for shifting the bars 69. As shown inFig. 1, a lever 94: is preferably mounted on each frame 10 and ispivotally connected at one end to the upper end of bar 69. This levercarries a spring pressed pawl 95 which is designed to' engage a toothedsegment 90 whereby the lever may be locked in any position to which itmay be moved. A handle 97 is fixedly connected to one of the frameextensions 20 and by means thereof the operator, who walks back of themachine while it is being propelled forward, can swing the machinelaterally so as to properly guide it along the row being acted on.

Any suitable mechanism may be utilized pulley 100. As hereinbeforepointed out, the springs 26 serve to draw the rear ends of the pickingheads toward each other by pulling on the rear ends of the frames 10 andthus, after the said frames 10 and the parts carried thereby have .beenspread apart by plants or the like passing between them, they will bereturned automatically to their initial positions.

Importance is attached to the particular form of picking roll orcylinder 57 employed. It hasbeen found that, by using this type of rollonly the fiber of the cotton will be engaged by the teeth or prongs 59and any leaves or trash which it 1s not desired to elevate to thedofling brush, w1ll not be engaged by the teeth but will be left on theplants or else will drop to the ground before passing through theconveyor. The picking rolls of each picking frame will pass over certainof the branches of the plants and under other branches. Thus it will beseen that practically all of the cotton on the plant will be reached byone or more of the rolls and removed from the plant.

What is claimed is I 1. A cotton picker including diverging series ofparallel combined picking and conveying elements, and means for rotatingthe respective elements at different speeds simultaneously whereby thecotton picked by one element is removed by an adjacent element.

2. A cotton picker including diverging series of substantiallyhorizontal combined picking and conveying elements, and means forrotating therespective elements at different speeds simultaneouslywhereby the cotton picked by one element is removed by an adjacentelement.

3. A cotton picker including diverging series of parallel combinedpicking and con- 'veying elements, said series being arranged in pairsand said pairs being superposed, and means for rotating the respectiveelements of each series at difierent speeds simultaneously whereby thecotton picked by one element is removed by an adjacent element.

4. A cotton picker including oppositely disposed inclined series ofcombined picking and conveying elements, and means for rotating one ofsaid elements to pick cotton and for rotating an adjacent element toremove said picked cotton from the picking element.

5. A cotton picker including oppositely disposed inclined series ofcombined picking and conveying elements, each of said series beingmounted to swing laterally, and means for rotating the respectiveelements of each series at difierent speeds simultaneously whereby thecotton picked by one element is removed by an adjacent element.

6.' A cotton picker including oppositely disposed inclined series ofcombined picking and conveying elements, each of said series beingmounted to swing laterally, means for yieldingly holding the seriesagainst swinging movement, and means for rotating the respectiveelements of each series at different speeds simultaneously whereby thecotton picked by one element is removed by an adjacent element. Y

7. A cotton picker including upwardly diverging series of parallelrevoluble elements, each element constituting a combined picking andconveying device, and means for rotating each of said elements at agreater speed than the next adjoinin element thereunder to remove thepicke cotton therefrom.

8. A cotton picker including upwardly diverging series of parallelcombined picking and conveying elements, means for rotating therespective elements of each series at different speeds simultaneously,whereby the cotton picked by one element is removed by an adjacentelement, and means for dofiing material from the uppermost element ofeach series. 7

9. A cotton picker including upwardly diverging opposed series ofsubstantially horizontal picking rolls, means for mounting the saidseries whereby they travel between the branches of cotton plants, therolls of opposed series converging toward their rear ends, said rollsconstituting means for gathering the plants between them.

10. A cotton picker including upwardly diverging series of parallelpicking rolls, the rolls of each series being disposed in staggeredrelation, and means for rotating each of said rolls at a greater speedthan the next adjoining roll thereunder.

11. In a cotton picker a plurality of revoluble icking elements, each ofsaid elements eing revoluble at a speed greater than the next adjoiningelement thereunder.

12. In a cotton picker a plurality of superposed revoluble pickingelements, means for rotating each of said elements at a greater speedthan the next adjoining one thereunder, each of said elementsconstituting means for removing from the next adjoining elementthereunder the cotton contained thereon.

13. In a cotton picker, a picking frame mounted for movement between thebranches of a plant, and a series of superposed rolls mounted forrotation within the frame, each roll constituting combined picking andconveying means, and means for driving each roll at a greater speed thanthe next adj oining roll thereunder to remove cotton therefrom.

14:. In a cotton picker, a series of superposed picking frames and aplurality of combined picking and conveying rolls cart Q I ried by eachframe, whereby the cotton picked by one roll is removed by an adjacentroll. 1

15. In a cotton picker, a picking frame, a picking r011 mounted torotate within the frame, a combined picking and conveying r011 withinthe frame for removing fiber from the first named roll, and means fordofiin fiber from the last named r01 1.

16. n a cotton picker, a picking frame, a picking roll mounted. forrotation Within fiber from the last named roll, and a conve er forreceiving the dofled material.

n testimon that I claim the foregoing I as my own, I ave hereto affixed.my s1gnature in the presence of two Witnesses.

JOSEPH B. NEIL. Witnesses:

SELINA WILLBON, I. E. SIMPSON.

